Mechanical keyboard (with click)

Once, during the icy winter season, the horse was nailed to the fence by the ears oh ... Well, yes, my workhorse was nailed - a cherry keyboard with a mechanical click that has been traveling with me since the beginning of the 90s. I had to smoke google on the subject of a modern mechanical keyboard with a click. Seeing the results, I was surprised to put it mildly - it turns out that mechanical keyboards do not steer in the 21st century :( There are keyboards that look like a shuttle control panel, there are flat ones, thick ones, with and without backlighting, rubber ones that can be folded out, anyway, but not good old mechanical keyboards.This is a conspiracy, I thought and decided to figure out what's what B-)

Having examined the forums in detail for discussion of mechanical keyboards, it turned out that now mechanical switches (which emit a characteristic metallic clang when pressed) are mainly manufactured by Cherry, and according to the specification they are even divided into blue, brown, white, black, red (it's not just color, and different mechanisms, and accordingly different tactile sensations when pressed). There are other switches as well, but they are not as common as Cherry.

Next, we find out who produces such keyboards, their cost and the degree of reach within the CIS. From the range of keyboards produced by Cherry itself, only one model is available in the CIS - G80-3000 ( review / analysis to the spring G80-3000 LPCRB) By the way, there are three options for the G80-3000 model, depending on the type of switch: Linear action, Soft contact, Click. The one that LPCRB in the name produces the most characteristic click that almost all keyboards had in the early 90s (the rest are quieter). There are options in black and white. Strange, but Cherry produces only a couple of models on its own switches, giving the lion's share of the market to other manufacturers.

Based on cherry switches, there is also a Steelseries 7G keyboard , positioned as a gaming keyboard (you can press 10 or more keys at the same time).
The cost of these keyboards exceeds $ 150 (probably due to gold-plated contacts). Offhand, other options could not be found.

In the world there is a very limited market for mechanical keyboards. Among manufacturers, companies such as DasKeyboard , Unicomp can be noted (this is generally a classic such as IBM Model M, emits the loudest click). There are models without inscriptions, the so-called "blank keyboards". Here I found a hacker assortment :)

I noticed such models for myself (although I don’t like narrow ENTER):



FILCO price list indicating the type (and color!) Of the switcher can be seen here .

For nostalgic, I give the most complete list of keyboards, sorted by type of switch:

- Buckling Spring
    * IBM Model M - All Pre-1994, Some Post-1994
    * Most Unicomp Keyboards
- Topre
    * Happy Hacking Pro 2
    * Realforce
    * Epson InterKX IKXFKB
- Cherry MX Blue
    * iOne Scorpius M10
    * iOne Scorpius M10 BL
    * Cherry G80-3000 LSCRC-2
    * iOne Scorpius 35
    * Das Model S
- Cherry MX Brown
    * Filco FKBN104M / EB
    * Filco FKBN87M / EB
    * Filco FKB104M / EB
    * FKB22MB
    * Compaq MX 11800
    * Compaq 11802
    * Cherry G80-3000
- Cherry MX Red
    * Cherry G80-3600LYCEU-0
- Cherry MX Black
    * Deck Keyboards
    * Steelseries 7G
    * Cherry MX 11900
    * Cherry G80-3000LPCEU-0
- Simplified ALPS Black
    * ABS M1
- Simplified ALPS White
    * Matias Tactile Pro 2.0
    * Solidtek ASK-6600U
    * Solidtek KB-6600ABU
    * SIIG Minitouch
    * Kinesis Evolution
- Original ALPS Black
    * Dell AT101W
- Original ALPS White
    * Focus 2000
    * Focus 2001
    * Focus FK-5001
    * Unitek K-258
    * Nan Tan KB-6551

If you read to this place, you may be interested in video and audio information about mechanical keyboards. It can be found on youtube at the request of "clicking keyboard", "clicky keyboard", "keyboard that clicks". For example, there is a comparison of the click sound of Kinesis Advantage, Unicomp Customizer, and Das Keyboard